Wednesday, September 23, 2020

"I think producing meat is terrible because it contributes to climate change"


Did you know that the main issue for climate change is the methane gas emission produced by the oil industries and cows? So I think producing meat is terrible because it contributes to climate change in many ways. Besides producing methane gas emission, meat requires a lot of water and land causing deforestation and over consumption of water. This contributes to climate change but more importantly destroys the natural environment.



Deforestation because of meat production is taking away the homes of many animals and it is affecting the ecosystem. Many kinds of life are at risk and are close to extinction. One main reason to burn trees and cause fires in order to have land is meat production as farmers need land to raise the cattle. We could prevent deforestation by controlling meat production and opting for vegetables and fruits production that requires less water to produce than meat. This means we need to change our consumption too.




Another important fact to consider in order to balance the ecosystem and help fight climate change is the water consumption requiredto produce food. Did you know the global average water footprint or the total amount of water needed to produce one pound of beef is 1,799 gallons of water? As a comparison the water footprint of soybeans is 216 gallons, corn is 108 gallons. Shock is reasonable for the amount of resources needed to produce meat compared to veggies and fruits.



Considering all the information above I think we need to be aware and conscious of what we consume and what we need to do to support the environment and to heal the Planet. Right now we are destroying the environment in many ways because of consumption and we can not continue like that because studies show us it could be too late to heal the Planet in the future because species and life are in danger of extinction.



Thursday, September 10, 2020

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)




The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization that works in the areas of conservation, research and environmental recovery. Founded and located in Switzerland the organization has many awards like MTV Australia Good Karma Award and Peabody Award. They aim to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth and build a future in which people live in harmony with nature. Here are five things you should know about WWF.





1. Forest Work
First, I will start talking about the forests and what WWF is doing for the forests. To begin with, forests are home to all kinds of life. Over 60 millions indigenous people live in forests, many birds, mammals, insects, and many other kinds of life live in forests. The crystal clear waterfalls that are perfect for a refreshing afternoon swim are found in forests too. More than that, we all depend on forests, starting with a vast array of resources, food, water, wood, medicine, and the air we breath. But threats to the world’s forests are growing. Expanding agriculture, due to an increased population and shifts in diet, is responsible for most of the world’s deforestation. Cheap wood and paper is responsible for most of the degradation of the world’s forests, the largest threat to the world’s forests. WWF is working to address the threats to forests: "By 2020, we must conserve the world’s forests to sustain nature’s diversity, benefit our climate and support human well-being." WWF said according to the https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/forests.





2.Food
The second topic is about food and WWF actions about it nowadays. "Drive sustainable food systems to conserve nature and feed humanity." It is well said because nowadays we are devastating the world to feed humanity. It’s time to reconsider food. Around the globe, food production, distribution, management and waste threaten wildlife, wild places and the planet itself. Make sure we can control our food waste, production and distribution. In the near-term, food production is sufficient to provide for all, but it doesn’t reach everyone who needs it. By improving efficiency and productivity while reducing waste and shifting consumption patterns, we can produce enough food for everyone by 2050 on roughly the same amount of land we use now. Shifting consumption patterns could be challenging because of culture, and other lifestyles. WWF works to secure a living planet that will sustain a more affluent population. From refining production and distribution to combating waste and environmental impacts, we want to improve how the world grows, transports and consumes this precious fuel.




3.Climate
The third topic is climate and what WWF is doing about it. "Create a climate-resilient and zero carbon world, powered by renewable energy" words from WWF for https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/climate.
Already, freshwater supplies are shrinking, agricultural yields are dropping, our forests are burning, and rising oceans are more acid. And the reason is the warming climate. Clean energy, new technology for roads, airports are the answer for it. And nations around the world are committed to delivering on a landmark global plan to curb climate change, known as the Paris Agreement.
For decades, WWF aims to reduce the emissions that drive climate change. WWF is helping accelerate climate action from national governments, and from cities, states and businesses to deliver on the ambitious temperature goals of the historic Paris Agreement. And hopefully technology supports humanity to produce clean and renewable energy for the future.




4.Wild life
For the fourth topic we will go through wildlife and WWF actions and plans for it. Humans are behind the current rate of species extinction, which is at least 100–1,000 times higher than nature intended. We’ve seen an astonishing 60% decline in the size of populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians in just over 40 years, according to WWF's Living Planet Report 2018. And the impacts will reach far beyond the potential cultural loss of iconic species like tigers, rhinos and whales. WWF has been part of successful wildlife recovery stories ranging from southern Africa’s black rhino to black bucks in the Himalayas. And this, in turn, is helping to protect rich and varied ecosystems while ensuring people continue to benefit from nature.
"We protect wildlife for many reasons. It is a source of inspiration. It nurtures a sense of wonder. It is integral to the balance of nature. In our work, WWF focuses on saving populations of the most ecologically, economically and culturally important species in the wild. Ultimately, by protecting species, we save this beautiful, vulnerable and utterly irreplaceable planet we call home." WWF to https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/wildlife-conservation.





5.Oceans
And the last topic is about the oceans. The ocean covers more than two-thirds of our living planet’s surface and is home to spectacular ecosystems and treasured wildlife. The ocean sustains the lives of billions of people, regulates our climate, produces half the oxygen we breathe, and fuels the water cycle that produces rain and freshwater. But after decades of overuse and pollution, these services are being interrupted. Hundreds of thousands of marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles are captured each year, along with tens of millions of sharks. Half of all coral reefs and mangroves are gone and we are overfishing the oceans. WWF is working to build a more resilient ocean by improving how we manage what goes in and what comes out of the ocean, all while protecting important regions, like the Arctic, and threatened ecosystems like coral reefs and mangrove forests.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Kakao - App review









KakaoTalk is a fast & multifaceted messaging app. Very good for communication. Send messages, photos, videos, voice notes and your location for free. Make chatting extra fun with an array of emoticons and sticker collections. The app is for everyone of all ages and all genders. It is mostly used in South Korea.
This app is very good because of the quality for calling, texting and making video calls. It has a stable connection, the layout is dynamic and even for sending files it is a good platform because it supports large files.


The Good

Even if you experienced calling friends from an app, Kakao is perfect because they made features like calls faster than the competition, high quality and speedy, also you can join groups calls or just one on one call. Emoticons are available and stickers collection to express yourself when texting others. You can even multitask available during your call. You can use your cellphone while in a voice or video call. You can use it on your computer or Android and Ios. Send files, post your pictures and your experience to share with your friends and family. Multimedia files like video, voice message, pictures, docs and others are good to send in high quality and even large files. Compared to the competition this is one advantage because most of competitors do not allow users to send large files.



The Not-So-Good

You can have Kakao in any language, but since the app is created by South Koreans, it is very adapted to South Korea culture. So, things like layout, stickers and design are different than most of competitors which use a simple layout and design making it more simple and easy to use. If you aren't Korean you will need to get used to it because it is more complex to learn how to use all the features.You can send and share all the file types using Kakao, but sometimes you need to be very patient specially for large size files because it will take some time to upload it and send it.


In my opinion, Kakao is very good compared to the competitors like WhatsApp, We Chat, Facebook, Instagram and others because you have most of the features all in one app and even in a better quality and faster speed. You can share and post your videos and your own experience, you can add friends and family to your account and the app will suggest new contacts according to your use. Also, it is very good for communication. Imagine having WhatsApp and Facebook and Instagram all in one app: this is Kakao. And since the company is growing they are improving updates and new services to Kakao users like Kakao taxi (similar to Uber and Lyft) and Kakao coin to make payments using their own coin. I highly recommend Korean users to use Kakao because of the quality and the features. And if you are not Korean probably you will probably have a hard time finding people who use Kakao so it could be unnecessary for you.

Friday, August 14, 2020

[Infographic] Michael Kim top 3 apps 2020


 My first time using cellphone apps was back in 2006. I started using apps to communicate and socialize with people like Icq, Orkut and a few others. A few years later, I started using Facebook. The apps I used to use lost market value and Facebook took over.Nowadays I still use Facebook, which is very useful for many things. The company has improved a lot in a few years and now you can do more things like sync accounts, marketing, research and many other things compared to years before that you could just share photos.

Also, we have many more options for cell phone apps compared to years before. Nowadays my 3 favorite apps are Instagram, Kakao and Spotify. The first app, Instagram was bought by Facebook and it is a social media app to share content with people. The second app, Kakao is a Korean app for communication, sending text messages, making voice and video calls, sending photos and videos and even sharing on your profile. I like Kakao because it has a really good quality for everything it does. And the last app, Spotify, is an app for listening to music, where you can stream music for free. It is a good platform where they suggest new music according to what you have been playing. 


Read this following infographic to see the details and more information about these three apps.

    

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Why Saving Matters

 Nowadays saving money is so important that it could change your life in different ways. You can retire early if you save enough fast, you can help others, and you can have many other positive benefits with your savings. In this blog, I will tell you about three reasons why saving matters. To begin with, saving money is part of a lifestyle. Creating habits to save money and calculate is essential. Also, you never know the future, you could get hurt, or lose your job, so this is another factor why saving is so important. People someday are is a good moment of life financially and sometimes are not. Everybody are vulnerable for up and downs. If you have savings, you probably will find new opportunities to invest or to work on, so save money because you never know when new opportunities will come and better be ready for them

First, habits to save money, what to say about them? That is why it is important to develop a habit when it comes to saving money. The most effective saving habit is known as "pay yourself first".

 
Once you have a lot of savings new possibilities will come to you. For example, buying a house with your savings will allow you to have your own place and not need to pay for rent anymore. You will be able to become financially independent to do whatever you want to do once you save enough and you can enjoy a good life. Possibilities to make more money could appear if you have enough money saved to invest. According to the lifestyle you want, you can pick the best investment to work on and have your own business too. Talking about investment and business we have many possibilities and it will change according on how much you saved too, so it is very variable.
Considering all the factors that I mentioned you can see why it is so important to save money for different reasons. The reasons that I mentioned are only a few, but there are many more reasons to save that I even did not mention. It is about your lifestyle and your choices that will help you to save money or not. Putting on your mind that you will spend only with necessary, essential things, is a way to start saving money without doing math. A good mindset and good habits will make the difference on the numbers at the end and of course it is also important to keep tracking the numbers too. If you spend on everything you want it will be hard to save money even if you have a high income.  The point is to think about what you really need and set goals to have a balance for a living and savings.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Describing A Graphic: Americans Are Streaming Billions of Songs and Videos


“Americans Are Streaming Billions of Songs and Videos”


The graph shows a huge increase in audio and video streaming demonstrating that; the system is changing on how people watch videos and listen to music compared to years before. Since the 1990,, we have change all the time on how we watch videos and listen to music. At that time we used to have discman, cd players, walkman, mp3 and other devices and format to play video and music.

Music industry changes in many ways and streaming is increasing, disc, cds, mp3, smartphone, different softwares and platforms in less than 30 years and we don't to stop to change that because of technology.

Technology is improving and changing industries. The graph reveals information about the changes in streaming since 2013. There has been an increase in streaming of  10 times more in 2019 compared to 2013. Music and video streaming are increasing non stop and the reason could be the softwares and the devices people are using nowadays. We are living times where that we can learn from YouTube by streaming a tutorial video or movies. 


As the graph shows, audio streaming has also been increasing over the years. 

In fact, thanks to apps like Spotify we can play music from any artist in the world anytime we want. The last five years a lot of apps started to appear on the market. Software and applications for video like Youtube, Vimeo, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat are software and platforms that are streaming video.

In 2013 there were 106b streams and in 2019 there were 1,147b streams, increasing approximately 10 times more. 


With fast internet, smartphones, and a lot of options to stream video and audio I think we will just continue to increase the numbers of streaming songs and videos. I agree about the data on the graph and we can predict that we will continue to enjoy the convenience on how to watch videos or play music.  Compared to years before, it is more and more easy to watch videos and listen to songs online by streaming from anywhere. Indeed, music streaming increased sharply between 2010 and 2020. I think it was a significant increase in the 2020 due to the pandemic and this industry will continue to see a rapid increase.


Wednesday, June 24, 2020

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